The Imperfect Soldier
by NoniMiko
Summary: Heero was Dr. J's perfect soldier. But what if Heero was not Dr. J's first experiment? This is Post EW, and the boys have joined up with the preventers. This fic features all the characters we know and love. Pairings 1x2, 3x4, 5xS, Nx6, OCx?, at least for now.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - I think the most difficult part about writing and reading a fanfic where an OC is one of the main characters is that as an author it is easy to get caught up in the OC and not develop the characters we know and love as deeply. This fic is my attempt to do both. I have been developing this OC for years in my head. Now I finally have the time, and courage to write her story. R&R is always appreciated. I like constructive criticism as well as specifics of what was good about the fic. Enjoy!

Warning: The Pilots have always been some of my favorite couples (1x2, 3x4 respectively), to me they were meant to be gay for the most part, or at least bi, so if that offends you, don't read this fic. I don't even know where this fic is going to go, but ft happens at all as it has in my head over the years, this fic will need an 'M' rating at some point, so I am rating it 'M' to be cautious.

* * *

"Hello everyone, and welcome" Lady Une announced formal as usual, calling everyone in the room to attention.

Once all eyes were on her, she continued "I will try to keep this meeting brief as the holidays are upon us, but I am afraid when it is over, you will be tied up for longer than you think. Oh, but before that, Heero, Duo, on behalf of the Preventers I want to congratulate you on your recent nuptials and honeymoon." There was a round of here-heres from the rest of the room.

Duo smiled broadly, while Heero looked down at his hands, plainly unsure what to do. "Apparently we missed all the action though" Heero said, trying to deflect the conversation back to what he guessed was the purpose of the meeting.

"What?! I wasn't enough action for you, big boy?" Duo joked, in a mockingly seductive tone as he threw his arms around Heero. Heero blushed crimson, and the whole room erupted in laughter.

Une tried to hold back a smile and waited patiently for the former soldiers, now preventer agents, to settle down before continuing. "Thank you Heero. That brings us to the purpose of this meeting. As I am sure you have all been made aware, two nights ago there was an assassination attempt on Vice Minister Dorlin".

Une's words were greeted by a collective growl of anger that she silenced by continuing, "fortunately this attempt was halted and Miss Relena is safe and sound. Unfortunately the rescue effort was not due to the heroic efforts of Miss Relena's guards, all of whom are under questioning about that night as we speak. Rather, the attempt was noticed and stopped by an unknown young woman who fled the scene afterward. According to the news reports we allowed to circulate, no one was able to talk to this woman afterward. However, that is not the case. In the chaos, Relena was able to speak to her mysterious savior briefly before the young woman disappeared. From that conversation Relena learned little more than the woman called herself, Ikari. Reports also deny that the incident had been recorded by anyone. That was also a stretching of the truth" Une paused at this, waiting and receiving the laughing response she expected from her listeners. Preventers were specialists at stretching the truth these days.

"Miss Relena asked me personally later that night to figure out the identity of her rescuer, for the purpose of properly honoring the young woman and because Relena wanted to make Ikari one of her personal body guards as an expression of gratitude". there were grumbles of concern about an unknown individual being so close to Miss Relena.

"OF COURSE" Une broke in, "I told Relena that we would have to perform an extensive background check of the young woman, and that check is why I called this meeting."

"Is she a terrorist or something then?" Duo asked, "That is easy enough to deal with".

"Yes, Duo, that would be easy enough, except that was not our findings. Our problem is that we had no findings".

"Of course her name was an alias of some kind. I would never give my real name to someone like that" Wufei said.

"Real names are over rated" Trowa muttered. Quatre gripped Towa's hand gently and offered his lover a reassuring smile.

"Agreed, Agent Chang" Une replied, forcing patience into her voice. "However, facial recognition tests, finger prints, dental records, insurances, the military, and electronic censuses of Earth and the colonies also had no leads. There are no records of this young woman anywhere. Which means. . ."

"She has something to hide" Heero interjected, "and either she is excellent with computers or knows someone who is. The quality of skill needed to tamper with all those records is extra ordinary".

"You have highlighted my concern, Mr. Yuy, and thus the purpose for this meeting. We confiscated the footage of that night that captured any part of the event, and pasted it together to form the video clip I am about to show you. You will see her skills are. . . quite remarkable. I have assembled all of you in particular together because you are known to also be remarkable in your variety if combat and espionage skills. Perhaps from your help, we can find a lead" Une finished.

"Where is she now?" Zechs interrupted.

"We have a team of agents on her 24/7. The last update I received indicated she was at her apartment her on earth. The landlord of the building indicated she has not been living there long. His records list her name as Ikari as well, with a generic last name. Now, please watch the video. It is rather short, so I will play it three times. Think hard, but accurately, we don't need any false accusations here. We don't have a proper face shot of her until the end of the clip. Miss Noin, please get the lights".

The lights dimmed, and the screen lit up to Miss Relena's smiling face making a comment about the newest peace accords. Then in almost a blur, Relena was tacked to the ground by a young woman as shots sounded the the air. The woman was short in height Trowa figured, long black and wavy hair, in jeans and a sweatshirt, a rimmed beanie and heavy bangs hiding her face. Quatre was surprised by her gentleness in the careful way she handled Relena, protecting Relena from getting a scratch and making sure the Vice Minister was secure being a ring of guards before anything else. Duo felt a pang of jealous that someone could deal out death's justice better than himself, the God of death, as he watched the woman expertly scale the wall, and kill the snipers before they could get away. Wufei was awed by her skills in martial arts as she expertly disarmed the snipers, before dealing them death blows to the head. When she came down and the camera finally got a glimpse of her face, Zechs couldn't help but notice the cold and empty expression she wore, a mask, like the one he used to wear. As the camera zoomed in Duo heard his partner gasp and whisper, "Dear God. . ." The whole incident occurred in less than a minute. The film looped around twice more before the lights came on again.

"Heero?" Duo asked, shaking Heero's arm to get his attention, unnerved by how pale his lover looked, as if he had seen a ghost.

If the room hadn't been silent, they would have missed Heero's whisper of a reply, "I know her."

Everyone stared at Heero, waiting for him to continue. A minute passed, and then two, before Duo nudged Heero, suggesting he should elaborate.

"Yes, Mr. Yuy?" Une prompted, unable to keep the excitement and fear from her expression.

Heero stared off into space as he answered, "I may have been Dr. J's prefect soldier, but I was plan B".

Confused, Quatre asked, "What do you mean, Heero?"

They all waited patiently, knowing that since Heero had developed more of his human side, courtesy of his relationship with Duo, talking about anything concerning Dr. J and those years was painful for Heero.

"I wasn't his first attempt to program _The Perfect Soldier_. She was - Hikari Minamoto."

They all waited in silence brought on by disbelief. Heero gazed on his hands, lost in his own memory.

Finally he continued, "One of the skills I was taught by Dr. J was computer hacking, which I ended up using to explore his personal files. Not long before operation meteor I found some long encrypted files that were hidden under layers of passwords and protections. Of course, I took that as a challenge and proceeded to break into the files. I am ashamed to say it took several hours". Everyone chuckled at Heero, still the perfectionist.

Une listened intently, wondering how she could get Heero to move on with the story without making him clam up about the past in the process. When Heero visible shivered, she kept her silence. Duo discretely took Heero's hand, not wanting his lover to feel babied, but also wanted Heero to know how much Duo loved and supported him.

"I haven't thought of those files for a long time" Heero continued, slipping into his soldier mode of giving a report, "She is of Japanese origin, like me, also with no knowledge and or records of her parents and upbringing. She was. . ." Heero swallowed hard and said, "a child prostitute sold by child traffickers when Dr. J found her. She was five years old. How she came to his attention, I don't want to know. After a short amount of training her medical examination results were incredible, as was her physical strength, IQ, street smarts, stamina, ability to survive on little food and sleep, weapon skills, martial arts, you name it and she took to it. She was born a soldier."

"So then why wasn't she the pilot of Winged Zero?" Trowa said, asking the obvious question.

"There was one area of her training that Dr. J did not account for. He did not do enough testing and examination of her emotional endurance, tendencies, capabilities, and so forth. He made up for his lapse extensively during my training" Heero sighed. "Apparently where she was physically and mentally able, she was emotionally weak. One day, out of what seemed like no where, she took her own life, according to the file".

The whole room gasped. "But then. . .?" Quatre started, but trailed off.

"Are you sure the young woman who saved Miss Relena is this Hikari Minamoto? I mean. . . if she is dead, then she is dead, right?" Duo asked nervously.

" I know how this sounds" said Heero reluctantly, "that is why I watched the clip all three times before saying anything, but there is no one else it could be. She looks identical to the pictures in the file. Those unnerving blue-grey eyes. Her training, awareness, skills - for all the things I have to say about how Dr. J operates, he was incredibly thorough. I don't think anyone could have her skill who did not go through his training."

"Was there a death certificate or some kind of confirmation of her death in the files you read, Heero?" Noin asked.

"Not that I remember. I was never able to asked J about it because I found the information through a violation of orders. I got the impression from his notes that Dr. J was very surprised by the loss of what he had perceived to be a very successful experiment. She didn't leave any note, and to Dr. J's knowledge she had not kept a personal journal or any other record that would suggest something was wrong. She was the puzzle he never figured out. But he never forget her. Hikari was the designer and programmer of the Zero system".

Duo's "Holy shit" echoed through the silenced room. None of them had forgotten that cursed system, and what it was like before Zechs and Heero made modifications.

"I guess I never thought into the designing of that program" Quatre said in awe. "What kind of person could. . ." but Quatre couldn't find the words to finish his thought.

"Okay" said Une a bit shakily, "let's not blow this out of proportion. We now have a lead, which is exactly what I was hoping for. With this evidence, we can mount an investigation. Relena did not mention that the young woman seemed off or unstable, but their conversation was brief. After the holidays I would like a group of you, you may decide who, to go to the apartment and speak to Miss. . . to the young woman."

"Isn't that a bit too straightforward of an approach?" Trowa voiced.

"Honestly Agent Barton, I don't like it either, but any espionage elements have been preempted by there being no records of her existence. With the information about her Mr. Yuy has provided, I think we have enough information to warrant a talk with her. She has the potential of being quite dangerous" Une finished, and slide into her chair.

"I would like to go tonight" Heero said bluntly.

"Yea," Duo chimed in. "It will keep him up all night if we don't, and he will keep me up all night."

"You have my permission to do whatever you think is good, Mr. Yuy. Just wait until I clear the. . . interview with the rest of the Preventer Commanders" Une said, excusing herself to do just that.

"So who else is going with us?" Duo said is his most bouncy manner, all be it a bit forced.

"You are staying here" Heero said, equal parts of authority and love in his voice.

"I will come" Quatre said meekly. "I could be some use with my empathy".

"Then I am coming as well" Trowa said firmly, anticipating any resistance Heero might give.

"I will make it a group of four" Zechs said finally. Noin put her hand on his arm, and he covered her hand with his, and looked down at her with all the care he possessed. Through their silent conversation Noin understood Zechs needed to do this because of his own experience with the Zero system, and Zechs understood that Noin expected him to be careful, now that he was going to be a father, she didn't want Zechs taking foolish chances.

Heero glanced at Wufei, who shook his head slightly, dealing with the emotional charged was not Wufei's ideal sort of mission. Noin's pregnancy insured she would not being joining them, or doing any sort of field work any time soon.

Just then a runner came in the room with a paper, "Commander Une told me to give this to you and to say you guys have permission".

Heero took the paper, turned to the others and said, "lets go", though in his mind he said _mission accepted_.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I am sorry for another dialogue chapter! There will be more action soon.

Chapter 2

Heero, Quatre, Trowa, and Zechs spoke little on the several hour shuttle ride to the Japanese district of the Earth's Sphere. Quatre had always preferred making small to rather than an awkward silence, but knowing his companions well, Quatre understood that small talk would just make things more awkward for everyone else. Instead, Quatre curled up on his lover's shoulder, and relaxed into the familiarity of his Trowa's scent.

Heero and Zechs sat apart, both lost in their own thoughts about this strange young woman, and their own past.

False dawn had begun to rise when the pilot of their small shuttle announced, "We are just about at our destination, prepare for landing" over the intercom.

Being on preventer business, the four young men got through the port security and obtained a transport car quickly. Within an hour they were parked near Hikari's apartment, talking to the security detail there. "The young woman in question came home early this morning, around 2am, and has been inside since. She is on the third level, apartment 11. Best of luck to you".

The boys trooped up the stairs, positioning weapons on their belts and fighting techniques in their minds, in case ought was needed. Zechs moved to the front of the group and knocked on the door, with six deliberate beats of his fist. Thirty seconds passed, then sixty, as the boys waited in alert silence. Zechs knocked again. Thirty seconds after that the boys heard movement in the apartment and waited.

Within another minute three locks were unbolted from the door and the handled twisted it open, revealing the young woman from the video, sleep clingy to her icy blue-grey eyes and tussling her long black hair. "You must be Une's men. You're late; I expected you last night. Come in". Her voice, though full of sleep, had a neutral, even emotionless tone.

Following her direction, Heero, Quatre, Trowa and Zechs walked in. Hikari gestured towards a maroon couch and said, "Please sit down" she said, while sinking into a black leather armchair and picking up a mug from off the side table. "Wakeful tea, great for hangovers" Hikari answered the boys unasked question. "I'd offer you some but I doubt my hospitality is something you would be trusting."

"Drinking was where you were until 2am then?" Trowa asked, giving Hikari the benefit of the doubt that she knew she was being watched.

"Yep. Bad habits, what can I say" Hikari responded with a shrug. "I have a good guess as to why you are here, but I don't know what questions you have. If we could get down to business, that would be great, and perhaps I will still be able to catch a few hours sleep before work."

"Work?" Zechs asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I bar-tend and dance for the Mercenary Mary Club in town."

"That is where you were last night?"

"No, I just went out. I expected you last night so I planned on not being home, but that doesn't matter because here you are. Can we get down to the point, please? God if I knew it was Relena being shot at maybe I wouldn't have bothered saving her if you all were going to make such a fucking shit-hole out of it" Hikari sighed, running her hands through her hair in obvious frustration.

Quatre tensed at Hikari's sudden rise in emotion. Sensing Quatre's tension, Trowa discretely placed his hand on Quatre's.

"Shit" Hikari continued, standing from her armchair as if she made to pace around the room, "I know you are here just doing your jobs, I guess you all being ex-gundam pilots unnerved me a bit. And I am not the most socialist of butterflies this early in the morning. What did you come here to learn?"

Trowa frowned at the sudden change in her demeanor from calm and all-knowing badass to angry, to nervous. There was something not right here.

"I would have thought you would have stayed uninformed about the gundam war, after everything you have been through it seems reasonable that you would want nothing to do with gundams." Zechs prodded.

Hikari tensed even more, "Of course"she sighed now in a defeated sort of way. "I can wipe all databases clean, but I cannot change what is in your memory, can I, Heero Yuy? Did Dr. J tell you about me, or did you just hack his files?"

"I hacked them. He wrote you were dead though, so I was surprised to see you on the security footage".

"Dead enough, I am dead enough," Hikari muttered to herself, tugging her hoodie sleeved over the palms of her hands, and subconsciously curling into herself slightly. Suddenly she felt a strong need for these boys to leave and stop asking her questions she didn't want to talk about.

"He is correct that I made an effort to die by my own hand - it just ended up being a failed effort, and proof that I could not be his perfect soldier". Hikari gazed off in the distance as she continued, "I spent an unknowable amount of time locked up in different places, in some degree of drug induced vegetation. Dr. J was not ignorant of the fact that all his skills of the perfect soldier were now held by someone he perceived to be unstable. Eventually he lost interest in me - my constant guard lapsed and I was able to escape. I did not have contact again with Dr. J for several years, until, during the war, he sought me out to obtain the software for the Zero System."

There was a pause in the conversation as everyone digested this information. "How did Dr. J know you are written such software?" Heero asked quietly, feeling a wave of empathy for the young woman before him.

"He didn't. He had recordings of my battle data. When the war's situation started to appear dire, Dr. J began searching for ways to give you pilots an edge. He found that edge in my battle strategies. The Zero System is no more or less than a computer program that replicates the way I fight in a systematic way. All the insanity of war boiled down to one question - 'who is your enemy?'"

Dead silence echoed through the room as the boys tried to imagine someone whose mind functioned with the cold and calculating methods of the Zero System.

"You were the perfect soldier" Quatre said, awe and fear in his voice.

"NO." Hikari said firmly. "No, no, no, no, no. You've got it all wrong. I was proof that there is no perfect soldier, but Dr. J did not get the message. I gave him the Zero System in hopes that he would finally figure that out. Though I hear that after some trial and error, several of you were able to use the system to some advantage. You know why, don't you?"

More silence.

"Because you had comrades in battle who were there to help you get out of the battle mode before you lost yourself to it - people who helped confirm what was real, and who the enemy is. You were a perfect team of imperfect soldiers. That is why the Gundams won the war."

All four boys in the room remembered their personal trials with the Zero system, and wondered what would have happened if neither enemy or friend had been there to group them in reality. Quatre felt a tear slide down his cheek for this broken girl in front of him, though his eyes were not the only ones not dry.

At this point Hikari was visibly agitated - her leg was tapping so violently that her who body shook. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, and her long waves of hair were obscuring her face. Her breathing was shallow and far too rapid to be regular.

Hikari felt herself falling to pieces - after so much time running for thinking about the past the floodgate had been opened and was pouring over her. There was so much emotion to feel and sort out, and she hated it. She had to get a grip on herself, but she couldn't with this audience. Run. She had to run.

"Please go away" Hikari choked out to the others. "I don't want to talk about the past anymore. I deleted myself from all the databases because I wanted to be left alone. I didn't want anyone else to ask me to create something like the Zero System. I had no intentions of harm towards your Miss Relena - it was like I was back in battle again, and protecting her as an instinct. I hadn't realized exactly what I had done until it was over. Please, go away. Please."

Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Zechs all looked at each other and silently agreed that Hikari meant no harm to Relena. At the same time, Quatre's pleading looks said they could not just leave this broken young woman here and leave. Trowa, Heero, and Zechs had to agree with Quatre.

Quatre walked over to Hikari, kelt down beside her chair, and put a hand on her arm to get her attention. She flinched violently away from him, surprising Quatre, and making Trowa suspicious. Before too much time had passed, Trowa crossed the room in his long strides, took hold of Hikari's arm, held it firmly, and pulled up her long sleeve to reveal the razor blade kisses he suspected would be there. Lines of white, purple, and angry red covered her left forearm, and more of her, Trowa suspected, if he had been able to look. When Trowa looked up from her arm he met Hikari's icy gaze - full of outrage, fear, hurt, and shame. She pulled her arm from his grip, and slapped him across the face with her free hand. When she spoke, her voice was frigid and disturbingly calm. "How fucking dare you, you bastard. Get the hell out of my apartment, or I will kill you."

Everyone froze for a moment, no one doubting the sincerity of Hikari's statement or her ability to carry it out. Undaunted, Trowa leaned forward and hugged Hikari. She stiffened in his arms, taken completely off guard by this show of affection and compassion - she had no training that would help her handling this situation.

Gently, Trowa whispered in Hikari's ear, "You are coming home with us. I won't leave you here to die alone." Trowa slowly let go, and met Hikari's eyes, this time they reflected deep sadness, confusing, and fear. She looked down at her hands, pulling her sleeves over them, and said nothing.

More non-verbal conservation between the boys confirmed that they all agreed with Trowa's invitation. Hikari still didn't move. Quietly Heero went into the bedroom and began throwing various belongings in a duffle bag while Quatre did the same in the bathroom. Trowa stayed with Hikari, holding her hand, trying to ground her in the real, in the now. He wasn't sure if this girl could be brought back from the dark places she had been wondering for so long, but he knew that he and the other gundam pilots had to try.

A/N - wow, that did NOT turn out how I expected it to, I must have been feeling particular vulnerable or something when I wrote this, but this is what felt right for Hikari to do. I hate "knight in shining armor" fics and stories, so I doubt this will end up being one of those, but I suppose that is up to the story to decide.


End file.
